System, method, and computer program for testing at least a portion of a network function virtualization based (NFV-based) communication network utilizing at least one virtual service testing element

ABSTRACT

A system, method, and computer program product are provided for testing at least a portion of a Network Function Virtualization based (NFV-based) communication network utilizing at least one virtual service testing element. In use, at least one virtual service testing element is instantiated, the at least one virtual service testing element being operable for testing at least a portion of a NFV-based communication network including a plurality of virtual services. Further, at least one time to implement the at least one virtual service testing element is identified such that the at least one virtual service testing element tests the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network by: sending a known test case communication from the at least one virtual service testing element as an input to an ingress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network; receiving a result of the input as an output at an egress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network; and analyzing the result to determine whether at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network is performing as expected.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to telecommunications and/or datacommunications and, more particularly to network function virtualization(NFV) of telecommunications networks.

BACKGROUND

Network Function Virtualization is a term or a name of a proposedarchitecture of telecom services as published by the EuropeanTelecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in a series of documentsavailable from the ETSI website. NFV uses generic hardware platform andgeneric software deployable over any Virtualized environment (i.e.Virtual Machine). Thus, NFV enables creating a network much moreflexible and dynamic than a legacy communication network where HW and SWwhere tightly coupled. In NFV-based networks, a Virtual Network Function(VNF) decouples the software implementation of the network function fromthe infrastructure resources it runs on. A network service is based onone or more VNFs and/or Physical Network Functions (PNFs), theirinterconnections, and chaining definitions. The VNFs can be executed onalmost any generic hardware processing facility. Therefore, VNFs may beinstalled, removed, and moved between hardware facilities, much moreeasily, less costly and thus, more frequently.

The flexibility of the NFV-based network enhances the means availablefor optimizing the network's capacity and performance. However, currenttechniques for dynamically testing such networks and associatedfunctionality are limited.

There is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues associatedwith the prior art.

SUMMARY

A system, method, and computer program product are provided for testingat least a portion of a Network Function Virtualization based(NFV-based) communication network utilizing at least one virtual servicetesting element. In use, at least one virtual service testing element isinstantiated, the at least one virtual service testing element beingoperable for testing at least a portion of a NFV-based communicationnetwork including a plurality of virtual services. Further, at least onetime to implement the at least one virtual service testing element isidentified such that the at least one virtual service testing elementtests the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network by:sending a known test case communication from the at least one virtualservice testing element as an input to an ingress point of the at leasta portion of the NFV-based communication network; receiving a result ofthe input as an output at an egress point of the at least a portion ofthe NFV-based communication network; and analyzing the result todetermine whether at least a portion of the NFV-based communicationnetwork is performing as expected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for testing at least a portion of a NetworkFunction Virtualization based (NFV-based) communication networkutilizing at least one virtual service testing element, in accordancewith one embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified diagram of a system associated with anNFV-based communication network, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a hardware unit of anNFV-based network, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified diagram of an NFV management system, inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified diagram of a deployed NFV-based network,in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates simplified diagrams of implementing at least onevirtual service testing element in a NFV-based communication network, inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a network architecture, in accordance with onepossible embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary system, in accordance with oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a method 100 for testing at least a portion of aNetwork Function Virtualization based (NFV-based) communication networkutilizing at least one virtual service testing element, in accordancewith one embodiment.

As shown, at least one virtual service testing element is instantiated.See operation 102. The at least one virtual service testing element isoperable for testing at least a portion of a NFV-based communicationnetwork including a plurality of virtual services.

The virtual service testing element may include any number of virtualservices and/or virtual network functions (VNFs). Moreover, the virtualservice testing element may be operable for testing the entire NFV-basedcommunication network, a portion of the NFV-based communication network,one or more virtual services in the NFV-based communication network,and/or portions of one or more virtual services in the NFV-basedcommunication network.

This may include, for example, testing of a single VNF instance (e.g.testing an addition, removal), testing changes made in networkingconfiguration between successive VNFs, and testing changes made to VNFcluster configurations (i.e., high-availability clusters, load-balancingclusters, etc.).

Further, at least one time to implement the at least one virtual servicetesting element is identified such that the at least one virtual servicetesting element tests the at least a portion of the NFV-basedcommunication network by: sending a known test case communication fromthe at least one virtual service testing element as an input to aningress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-based communicationnetwork; receiving a result of the input as an output at an egress pointof the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network; andanalyzing the result to determine whether at least a portion of theNFV-based communication network is performing as expected. See operation104.

The ingress point refers to any point in the NFV-based network where thetest input is initiated. The egress point refers to any point in theNFV-based network where the output is received or identified (e.g.identified to be examined as the output, etc.). In one embodiment, theingress point and the egress point may be the same (e.g. during anend-to-end system test in a full round-trip configuration, etc.). Inanother embodiment, the ingress point and the egress point may bedifferent (e.g. when testing a portion of the network, specificservices, portions of services, etc.).

Accordingly, the virtual service testing element may be a single moduleand/or multiple modules (e.g. one module associated with an ingresspoint/input, and one module associated with an egress point/output,etc.). Thus, the virtual service testing element may represent a singleelement functionally placed such that an input is sent from a pointwhere an output is also received, or multiple elements functionallyplaced such that an input is sent from a point different than from wherethe output is received.

Furthermore, because the testing element is a virtual service or VNF,the virtual service testing element may be moved/positioned dynamicallyas desired. For example, at least one first point in the NFV-basedcommunication network may be identified to functionally locate thevirtual service testing element, and the virtual service testing elementmay be functionally located at the first point of the NFV-basedcommunication network. Subsequently, at least one second point in theNFV-based communication network may be identified to functionally locatethe virtual service testing element, and thus the virtual servicetesting element may be functionally moved from the first point of theNFV-based communication network to the second point of the NFV-basedcommunication network.

The positioning and/or the moving of the ingress and/or the egress pointand/or the virtual service testing element may depend on any number offactors, such as a predefined test plan, the addition of functionality(e.g. the addition of services, etc.), the removal of functionality(e.g. the removal of services, etc.), the updating of virtual services,perceived issues, faults, and/or based on various other criteria. Stillyet, in one embodiment, the testing element may be located outside ofthe NFV-based communication network. In this case the testing elementmay include a physical testing element.

Moreover, the time to implement the virtual service testing element maybe determined utilizing various techniques. For example, identifying thetime to implement the virtual service testing element may includeutilizing a test plan to identify the time to implement the virtualservice testing element. In this case, the test plan may be a predefinedplan for testing the network, a portion of a network, and/or services.Thus, the virtual service testing element may be implemented at varioustimes.

For example, a schedule for implementing the virtual service testingelement may be generated. In this case, the schedule may identify thetime to implement the virtual service testing element.

As another example, identifying the time to implement virtual servicetesting element may include receiving a command to implement the atleast one virtual service testing element. For example, the virtualservice testing element may be implemented on demand for testing variousaspects of the network. Moreover, the command may be received from avariety of sources.

In addition, a manual command may be received to test a service elementfrom an Orchestrator administrator, either from the Orchestratoradministration UI or from an external administration system. As anotherexample, the service/VNF may be tested as part of the service/VNF firstinstantiation procedure, just before real traffic is steered to thatservice/VNF.

For example, the command may be received from at least one virtualservice. In this case, the command may be sent based on at least oneevent in the NFV-based communication network. For example, the event inthe NFV-based communication network may include an event identified as apotential failure event. As an example, a virtual service may determinethat an anomaly or issue has occurred in the network. In response tothis, the virtual service may initiate a test on an affected portion ofthe network by implementing the virtual service testing element.

In either case, the virtual service testing element may test a portionof the NFV-based communication network, all services in the NFV-basedcommunication network, and/or portions of virtual services.

The known test case may include any test case and/or scenario capable oftesting a desired aspect of the network. In various embodiments, thetest case may include simplified inputs or more detailed inputs. Ineither case, the known test case will include an input that will producea known (or knowable) result when processed by desired elements to betested. Thus, if the result does not match an expected result, it may bedetermined that there is an issue with the tested elements/services. Inthis case, the elements/services may be retested, or differentelements/services may be tested as a type of drill down testing.

For example, if analyzing the result indicates that the tested portionof the NFV-based communication network is not performing as expected,another portion of the NFV-based communication network may be identifiedto test. As another example, if analyzing the result indicates that thetested portion of the NFV-based communication network is not performingas expected, one or more services associated with the NFV-basedcommunication network in which to perform testing may be identified.

In addition, the source to the problem may be outside to the NFV-basedcommunication network, so the orchestrator may also choose to send theindication about the test result (in case where it does not meet theexpected result), to external system for further handling.

Thus, the method 100 may be utilized to test various aspects of existingoperational NFV-based communication networks, and to perform drilldowntesting on the network if issues are detected. Moreover, the virtualservice testing element may be dynamically moved and instantiatedthroughout a network, as desired, with little or no impact on normalnetwork operation.

Additionally, any VNF and/or virtual service in the network may beutilized to instantiate the virtual service testing element.Furthermore, any VNF and/or virtual service in the network may beutilized to determine where to instantiate the virtual service testingelement. Still yet, in one embodiment, a dedicated module may beutilized to perform some or all of this functionality. In this case, thededicated module may include any number of VNFs and/or virtual services.As described below, such module may generally be described as a testingmodule.

In the context of the present description, the terms “network” and“communication network” refer to the hardware and software connectingone or more communication elements including wireline networks, wirelessnetworks, and/or combinations thereof.

The terms “network function virtualization” (NFV) and virtual networkfunction (NFV) are described in a series of documents published by theEuropean Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and availablefrom the ETSI website. The term “virtual network function or feature”(VNF) refers to a particular implementation of a function, a feature, ora service provided by the network, internally within the network, orexternally to a customer, subscriber, end-user, a terminal or a server.A VNF may include the software program implementation of the function orfeature or service. The term VNF instance (VNF-I) refers to a particularprocess or task executing the VNF program by a particular virtualmachine or processor or computing facility and/or used by a particularcustomer (or subscriber, end-user, terminal or server, etc.).

The term “service” refers to any type of use (such as a use case) that aNFV-based communication network may offer or provide to one or morecommunication elements. A service may include switching data or contentbetween any number of elements, providing content from a server to acommunication element or between servers, securing and protectingcommunication and content, processing content provided by the customeror by a third party, providing backup and redundancy, etc. A service maybe using partial functionality of a VNF or may include one or more VNFsand/or one or more VNF instances forming a service sub-network (orinterconnection model). In the context of the present description, theterm “chain” may refer to such service sub-network, such as a particularplurality of VNFs and/or VNF instances associated with a particularservice type or a service instance.

The term “deployment”, when referring to hardware elements, includingprocessing elements, memory elements, storage elements, connectivity(communication) elements, etc., refer to the configuration or topologyof these hardware elements creating the NFV-based network. The term“deployment”, when referring to software elements, such a VNFs and VNFinstances, refers to the association between such software elements andhardware elements.

The term “deployment optimizations” refers to association of softwareand hardware elements in a manner that satisfies a particular set ofrequirements and/or rules, such as load-related and performance-relatedrequirements, or a manner that makes a better use of a particularhardware deployment, such as by reducing operational cost.

The terms “service deployment optimization”, or “service optimization”or “chain optimization” refer to optimizing the deployment of a servicechain, i.e., optimizing the deployment of one or more VNF instancesmaking a particular service. The terms chain optimization and serviceoptimization may thus be used interchangeably.

The term “session” refers to a communication connection between two ormore entities that persists for a period of time during which data maybe exchanged there between. A session may be implemented and managed bya session layer in the corresponding network protocol. The term sessionmay include a network session and a logical session. The network sessionmay be associated with the devices used to communicate, while thelogical session may be associated with the communicating parties (users)and may persist regardless of the communication means that the partiesare using.

The term “service continuity” includes and applies to the terms “sessioncontinuity” and “streaming continuity”. Streaming refers to streamingmedia, session or service, such as sound (including voice), video,multimedia, animation, etc. The term service usually applies to a groupof VNFs (or the functionality provided by the group of VNFs) but mayalso apply to a single VNF (or the functionality provided by the VNF).The term “continuity” indicates that the session or the service is notinterrupted, or that an interruption is short enough that a user is notaware of such interruption, or that the interruption does not cause anyloss of data, or that the loss is handled in acceptable manner (e.g. afew packets of speech lost, but the conversation can continue, etc.).

The term “availability” or “service availability” refers to a level ofthe service, or a characteristic of the service, in which the serviceprovider should provide the service, albeit possible hardware orsoftware faults. For example, the service provider may obligate to thecustomer to provide a particular level of processing power,communication features such as bandwidth, latency, and jitter, databaseconsistency, etc. Such level or characteristic of the service should beavailable to the customer even when a hardware component or a softwarecomponent providing the service do not function properly. Providingavailability may therefore require additional resources such as backupresources and/or mirroring. Hence “availability” may also refer to theterms “fault recovery” and “redundancy”.

The term “fault recovery” refers to the process of recovering one ormore of the network's services, functions, and features after a fault,whether caused by a hardware malfunction, a system crash, a software bugor a security breech or fault. A hardware malfunction includes, but isnot limited to, any type of inadequate performance associated with, forexample, power supply, processing units, memory, storage, transmissionline, etc. The term “fault recovery” also applies to recovering thefunctionality of one or more VNFs or VNF instances with respect to anyof the above. The terms security breech or security fault may be usedinterchangeably.

The term “redundancy” refers to any type of component of the networkthat is fully or partly duplicated, provided in standby mode, orotherwise available, to replace another component of the network whenthat other component stops functioning properly or otherwise indicatessome kind of fault. Redundancy may apply, but is not limited to,hardware, software, data and/or content.

More illustrative information will now be set forth regarding variousoptional architectures and uses in which the foregoing method may or maynot be implemented, per the desires of the user. It should be stronglynoted that the following information is set forth for illustrativepurposes and should not be construed as limiting in any manner. Any ofthe following features may be optionally incorporated with or withoutthe exclusion of other features described.

The principles and operation of a system, method, and computer programproduct for testing at least a portion of a NFV-based communicationnetwork utilizing at least one virtual service testing element accordingto various embodiments may be further understood with reference to thefollowing drawings and accompanying description.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified diagram of a system 200 associated withan NFV-based communication network 210, in accordance with oneembodiment. As an option, the system 200 may be implemented in thecontext of the details of FIG. 1. Of course, however, system 200 may beimplemented in the context of any desired environment. Further, theaforementioned definitions may equally apply to the description below.

As shown in FIG. 2, at least one NFV-based network 210 is provided. TheNFV-based communication network 210 includes an NFV management system2111, an NFV-orchestration (NFV-O) module 212, and a testing module 213,according to one embodiment.

In the context of the present network architecture, the NFV-basednetwork 210 may take any form including, but not limited to atelecommunications network, a local area network (LAN), a wirelessnetwork, a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, peer-to-peernetwork, cable network, etc. While only one network is shown, it shouldbe understood that two or more similar or different NFV-based networks210 may be provided.

The NFV-based network 210 may include one or more computation facilities214, each including one or more hardware units and being interconnectedby communication links to form the NFV-based network 210. At least oneof the computation facilities 214 may include the NFV management system211. The NFV management system 211 may include the NFV-O module 212 andthe testing module 213.

The NFV-O module 212 may be executed by one or more processors, orservers, such as computation facilities 214, of the NFV-based network210. The NFV-O module 212 may be executed as an NFV-O instance orcomponent. The NFV-O module 212 may therefore include a plurality ofNFV-O instances or components as will be further explained below.

The testing module 213 may be a part or a component of the NFV-O module212. However, the testing module 213, the NFV-O module 212 and the NFVmanagement system 211 may be separate software programs provided bydifferent vendors. In one embodiment, the NFV-based network 210 may evenhave a plurality of any of the NFV management systems 211, the NFV-Omodules 212, and/or the testing module 213.

A plurality of devices 215 are communicatively coupled to the NFV-basednetwork 210. For example, a server computer 216 and a computer orterminal 217 may be coupled to the NFV-based network 210 forcommunication purposes. Such end-user computer or terminal 217 mayinclude a desktop computer, a lap-top computer, a tablet computer,and/or any other type of logic or data processing device. Still yet,various other devices may be coupled to the NFV-based network 210including a personal digital assistant (PDA) device 218, a mobile phonedevice 219, a television 220 (e.g. cable, aerial, mobile, or satellitetelevision, etc.)2, etc. These devices 215 may be owned and/or operatedby end-users, subscribers and/or customers of the NFV-based network 210.Others of the devices 215, such as administration station 221, may beowned and/or operated by the operator of the NFV-based network 210.

A network administrator 222 may supervise at least some aspects of theoperation of the NFV-based network 210 by controlling an NFVinfrastructure including the NFV management system 211, the NFV-O 212,and the testing module 213.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram 300 of a hardware unit 323of an NFV-based network, in accordance with one embodiment. As anoption, the block diagram 300 may be viewed in the context of thedetails of the previous Figures. Of course, however, block diagram 300may be viewed in the context of any desired environment. Further, theaforementioned definitions may equally apply to the description below.

In one embodiment, the hardware unit 323 may represent a computingfacility 214 of FIG. 2, or a part of a computing facility 214. Thehardware unit 323 may include a computing machine. The term computingmachine relates to any type or combination of computing devices, orcomputing-related units, including, but not limited to, a processingdevice, a memory device, a storage device, and/or a communicationdevice.

The hardware unit 323 may therefore be a network server, and thecomputing facility 214 may be a plurality of network servers, or adata-center, including cloud-based infrastructure. As an option, thehardware unit 323 may be implemented in the context of any of thedevices of the NFV-based network 210 of FIG. 2 and/or FIG. 5 and in anydesired communication environment.

Each hardware unit 323 (or computing machine, computing device,computing-related unit, and/or hardware component, etc.), including eachcommunication link between such hardware units, may be associated withone or more performance type and a respective performance rating orvalue, where the hardware unit and/or communication link is operative toprovide the performance value. Performance types are, for example,processing power, cash memory capacity, regular memory capacity (e.g.RAM, dynamic, or volatile memory, etc.), non-volatile memory (e.g. suchas flash memory, etc.) capacity, storage capacity, power, cooling,bandwidth, bitrate, latency, jitter, bit error rate, and packet loss,etc. Virtual machines may run on top of the hardware unit 323 and a VNFmay be run on one or more of such virtual machines.

The hardware unit 323 may be operative to provide computinginfrastructure and resources for any type and/or instance of softwarecomponent executed within the NFV-based network 210 of FIG. 2. In thisregard, the hardware unit 323 may be operative to process any of theprocesses described herein, including but not limited to, anyNFV-related software component and/or process. The hardware unit 323 isoperative to process virtual network functions (VNFs), VNF instances,network function virtualization orchestration (NFV-O) software, modulesand functions, data center management software, and/or cloud managementsystems (CMS), etc.

In various embodiments, the hardware unit 323 may include at least oneprocessor unit 324, one or more memory units 325 (e.g. random accessmemory (RAM), a non-volatile memory such as a Flash memory, etc.), oneor more storage units 326 (e.g. including a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetictape drive, a compact disk drive, etc.), one or more communication units327, one or more graphic processors 328 and displays 329, and one ormore communication buses 330 connecting the various units/devices.

The hardware unit 323 may also include one or more computer programs331, or computer control logic algorithms, which may be stored in any ofthe memory units 325 and/or storage units 326. Such computer programs,when executed, enable the hardware unit 323 to perform various functions(e.g. as set forth in the context of FIG. 1, etc.). The memory units 325and/or the storage units 326 and/or any other storage are possibleexamples of tangible computer-readable media.

It is appreciated that computer program 331 may include any of the NFVmanagement system 211, the NFV-O 212, and/or the testing module 213 ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified diagram of an NFV management system 411,in accordance with one embodiment. As an option, the NFV managementsystem 411 may be implemented in the context of the details of theprevious Figures. For example, in one embodiment, the NFV managementsystem 411 may represent the NFV management system 211 of FIG. 2. Ofcourse, however, the NFV management system 411 may be implemented in thecontext of any desired environment. Further, the aforementioneddefinitions may equally apply to the description below.

In one embodiment, the NFV management system 411 may include an NFV-Omodule 412, and a testing module 413. The NFV management system 411 mayinclude one or more NFV-O modules 412. In various embodiments, each ofthe NFV-O modules 412 may include orchestration and workflow management432 that is responsible for managing (i.e. orchestrating) and executingall NFV-O processes, including inbound and/or outbound communication andinterfaces.

The NFV management system 411 may include a deployment optimizationmodule 433 that enables a user to devise automatic mechanisms fornetwork optimizations. The deployment optimization module 433 mayoperate these mechanisms automatically and continuously to optimize thedistribution of VNFs 450 and their VNF instances in real-time (ornear-real-time) by migrating VNFs 450 and VNF instances (e.g. VNFinstances 551 of FIG. 5, etc.) between hardware units (e.g. hardwareunits 551 of FIG. 5, etc.).

The NFV management system 411 may also include a chain optimizationmodule 434. The chain optimization module 434 may be a part ofdeployment optimization module 433 and may enable a user to deviseautomatic mechanisms for optimizing the deployment of chains or groupsof VNFs 450 and VNF instances. A service provided by an NFV-basednetwork is typically made of a particular chain or group of particularVNFs 450 and their respective VNF instances. The chain optimizationmodule 434 optimizes the deployment of chains or groups of servicesbetween hardware units according to the requirements and specificationsassociated with and/or adapted to the particular service, or chain, or agroup.

The chain optimization module 434 may operate these mechanismsautomatically and continuously to optimize in real-time the operation ofchains or groups of the VNFs 450 and their VNF instances by re-planningtheir distribution among hardware units and optionally also by migratingthe VNFs 450 and associated VNF instances between hardware units.

The NFV management system 411 may also include a service fulfillmentmodule 435 that manages service and resource (e.g. VNF) instancelifecycle activities as part of the process and orchestrationactivities. This may include on boarding, initiation (e.g.instantiation), installation and configuration, scaling, termination,software update (e.g. of a running VNF, etc.), test environment, and/orrollback procedure. Additionally, the service fulfillment module 435 mayalso provide decomposition of an order to multiple network services, andthe activation of such network service as a single VNF instance, or as achain of VNF instances.

Order decomposition includes translating business orders into a networkoriented service implementation plan. For example, a business order maybe decomposed into a plurality of functions, some of which may beprovided by different software programs or modules (e.g. such as variousVNFs) instantiated as a plurality of VNF instances across one or moredata centers. Performing order decomposition, the service fulfillmentmodule 435 may consult the deployment optimization module 433 for thebest deployment option to customer order in a given network and resourcecondition. Performing order decomposition, the service fulfillmentmodule 435 may then initiate the service including all its components.Order decomposition may be performed in several locations across anNFV-O hierarchy. For example, initial decomposition may be performed inthe root of the NFV-O, and then further decomposition may be performedin the relevant data centers.

In one embodiment, an activation and provisioning module may provide theplan for activation and provisioning of the service to the orchestrationand workflow management 432. The activation and provisioning module mayalso provide feedback on fulfillment status to an upper layer. Thisupper layer may include the business support services (BSS).

The NFV management system 411 may also include an assurance module 436and a service management module 452 capable of gathering real time dataon network elements' status and creating a consolidated view of servicesand network health. The assurance module 436 includes assurancefunctionality and may interact with the service management module 452 toperform assurance related lifecycle management procedures. Lifecyclemanagement can be also triggered by other modules, policies, manualintervention, or from the VNFs themselves, etc. The assurance module 436and the service management module 452 may also trigger events associatedwith lifecycle management and faults. The assurance module 436 and theservice management module 452 may monitor the health of the network andmay execute fault recovery activities.

The assurance module 436 and the service management module 452 providethe ability to monitor services' status and performance according to therequired criteria. The assurance module 436 and the service managementmodule 452 may also interact with the network infrastructure (e.g.including computing, storage, and networking, etc.) to receive therequired information, analyze the information, and act upon eachincident according to the defined policy. The assurance module 436 andthe service management module 452 are able to interact with analytics toenrich a policy assurance module. Interfaces may also be provided forimplementation by an external system.

The NFV management system 411 may also include a policy managementmodule 437 that enables a user to define and configure offline and/orreal-time policy for controlling VNF and service related rules. Thepolicy management module 437 may contain the preconfigured policies andactivities as well as selection rules for the NFV-O process to determinethe preferred policy or activity to be performed for a particularprocess event. The policy management may be multi-layered, includingvendor policy, service policy, and operator policy, etc. The policymechanism may trigger the suitable policy layer(vendor/service/operator).

The NFV management system 411 may also include an administration module438 that provides an overall view of the network, manual lifecyclemanagement and intervention, and manual system administration andconfiguration. The administration module 438 may be operable to enable auser such as an administrator (e.g. administrator 222 of FIG. 2, etc.)to manage, view, and operate the NFV-O system. The administration module438 may also provide a view of the network topology and services, theability to perform specific activities such as manual lifecyclemanagement, and changing service and connectivity configuration.

The NFV management system 411 may also include an inventory managementmodule 439 that maintains a distributed view of deployed services andhardware resources. Inventory catalogues may reflect the currentinstantiation and allocation of the resources and services within thenetwork mapped into products and/or customer entities.

The NFV management system 411 may also include a big data analyticsmodule 440 that analyzes network and service data to support networkdecisions involving services and subscribers to improve networkperformance based on actual usage patterns. The big data analyticsmodule 440 may also generate what-if scenarios to supportbusiness-oriented planning processes. Additionally, the big dataanalytics module 440 may function to analyze and evaluate theinformation for various planning aspects (e.g. Virtual Network CapacityPlanning, Data Center Capacity Planning, Value based planning, Costanalysis for network deployment alternatives, etc.), deployment andmanagement (e.g. Guided Operator Recommendations, What-if scenarioanalysis and simulation, application rapid elasticity and resource usageoptimization, etc.), and may support business-oriented planningprocesses.

The NFV management system 411 may also include a catalog module 441 mayinclude records defining various aspects of the network, such asproducts, services, and resources such as hardware units and VNFs (e.g.a VNF directory, etc.). The catalog module 441 may include a collectionof centralized, hierarchical information repositories containingresource, service and product definitions with their relationship,versioning, and/or descriptors, etc. Such records may include templatesenabling a user, such as an administrator, to define particular networkcomponents such as resources, products, services, etc. A resourcetemplate may define resources descriptors, attributes, activities,procedures, and/or connectivity, etc. A service template may define aservice variation from resource building blocks. A product template maydefine parameters of a sellable product (e.g. prices, rating, etc.)based on service composition (e.g. in one embodiment, this may be partof a BSS catalogue).

The inventory management module 439, the big data analytics module 440,and/or the catalog module 441 may support multiple data centers,multiple CMSs and provide a centralized view across the infrastructure.The inventory management module 439, the big data analytics module 440,and/or the catalog module 441 may also support hybrid networks andservices maintaining both physical and virtual resources.

The NFV management system 411 may also include an accounting andlicensing module 442 that may be operable to record and manage networksoftware usage data for commercial purposes including licensing,accounting, billing, and reconciliation of services with subscribers andproviders. The accounting and licensing module 442 may manage licensingand usage of virtual network applications, including the ability tosupport complex rating schemes, based on various parameters such as CPU,memory, data, etc. The accounting and licensing module 442 may enableusers to define the pricing of particular VNF modules and providesettlement with vendors. The accounting and licensing module 442 mayalso enable the evaluation of internal costs of services provided withinthe network for calculating return on investment (ROI).

The NFV management system 411 may also include a fault recovery module443 (otherwise named disaster recovery planning module or DRP, etc.)that enables a user to plan and manage disaster recovery procedures forthe NFV-O and/or the entire network.

The NFV management system 411 may also include a security managementmodule 444 that provides the authentication authorization and accountingservices of application security across the network. The securitymanagement module 444 may include, for example, an authentication moduleand function. In one embodiment, the authentication module and function(e.g. including identity management, etc.) may authenticate the identityof each user defined in the system. Each user may have a unique useridentity and password. The system may support password basedauthentication with flexible password policy. Integration with externalauthentication providers may be done via additional system enhancements.The authorization module and function may support a role-based accesscontrol (RBAC) mechanism, where each user is assigned with one or moreroles according to the business needs based on the least privilegesconcept (e.g. standard or administrator roles). In one embodiment, theaccounting and licensing module 442 may provide an audit of securityevents such as authentication or login events.

As an option, the security management module 444 may use rules toprotect sensitive information. For example, such rules may be used toensure the data accessed is used for the specific purposes for which itwas collected, sensitive information is encrypted when instorage/transit and masked/truncated on display and logs, and that theentire security system is deployed in the customer's intranet network(i.e. behind network/infrastructure measures), in an independent domain,etc.

In one embodiment, the NFV management system 411 may further include aSecure Development Life Cycle (SDLC) module that ensures that securityaspects are handled during a project's life cycle, such as securitydesign, security testing, etc.

As shown further in FIG. 4, the NFV management system 411 may include aservice planning module 445. The service planning module 445 may be usedby a communication service provider (CSP) sales representative,enterprise, and/or technician, as part of selling engagement processwith enterprise/SMB customers.

The service planning module 445 may also provide the ability to interactwith catalogues, customer data, network and ordering systems to provideonline network service proposals for the enterprise customers withability to quote update the proposal, validate the serviceability andnetwork inventory, and once done, provide the service order foractivation using the northbound interface.

The testing module 413 may also be part of the NFV-O module 412. Thetesting module 413 is operable to test at least a portion of a NFV-basedcommunication network by sending a known test case communication to aningress point of the NFV-based communication network, receiving a resultof the input as an output at an egress point, and analyzing the resultto determine whether at least a portion of the NFV-based communicationnetwork is performing as expected. Moreover, the testing module 413 maybe operable to implement any functionality described in the context ofFIG. 1.

The NFV management system 411 may also include east/west APIs 446 thatinclude various domains/activities interfaces, including an informationsource to a big data repository, and interaction capability with aphysical network system (OSS).

Northbound APIs 447 provides application programming interfaces (APIs)to various external software packages, such as business support system(BSS) for service order fulfillment, cancel and update activities,status notification, resource inventory view, monitoring system,assurance system, service planning tool, administration tool for systemview and configuration, and big data repository, etc.

Further, the southbound APIs 448 may provide APIs for external softwarepackages, such as CMS (including service and VNFs lifecycleactivities—receiving from the infrastructure status and monitoringinformation for upstream system and activities [e.g. assurance]), an SDNController (or other connectivity system) to configure inter and intradata center connectivity, an EMS to configure the VNF, and a VNF for adirect configuration.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified diagram 500 of a deployed NFV-basednetwork 510, in accordance with one embodiment. As an option, thediagram 500 may be viewed in the context of the details of the previousFigures. For example, in one embodiment, the deployed NFV-based network510 and associated elements may represent the NFV-based networks andassociated elements described in the context of the previous Figures. Ofcourse, however, the diagram 500 may be viewed in the context of anydesired environment. Further, the aforementioned definitions may equallyapply to the description below.

As shown in FIG. 5, the NFV-based network 510 may include hardware units523 connected via transmission lines 549, and VNFs implemented assoftware programs 550 installed in hardware units 523. Some of thehardware units 523 may be directly connected to a customer. The customermay be a subscriber, an end-user, or an organization, represented hereinas a terminal or a server 552, or a plurality of terminals and/orservers 552. The NFV-based network 510 may also include a NFV managementsystem 511, an NFV-orchestration (NFV-O) 512, and a testing module 513(which may all represent elements described in the context of theprevious figures, etc.).

As shown further in FIG. 5, several, typically different, VNFs 550 maybe installed in the same hardware unit 523. Additionally, the same VNF550 may be installed in different hardware units 523.

A VNF 550 may be executed by a processor of the hardware unit 523 in theform of a VNF instance 551. Therefore, a particular VNF 550 installed ina particular hardware unit 523 may be “incarnated” in (e.g. initiated,executed as, etc.) any number of VNF instances 551. The VNF instances551 may be independent of each other. Additionally, each VNF instance551 may serve different terminals and/or servers 552. The NFV-basednetwork 510 connects to and between communication terminal devices 552that may be operated by one or more customers, subscribers, and/orend-users.

It is appreciated that a network operator may manage one or moreservices deployed in the customer's premises. Therefore, some of thehardware units 523 may reside within the premises of the networkoperator, while other hardware units 523 may reside in the customer'spremises. Similarly, a server, such as server computer 216 of FIG. 2,may reside in the premises of the network operator or in the customer'spremises. Consequently, when the network operator provides and/ormanages one or more services for a customer's terminal devices 552 suchas a server computer, the NFV-based network 510 of the network operatormay directly manage the VNFs 550, providing the services and their VNFinstances 551.

In such situation, the NFV-based network 510 may manage the servicesirrespectively of the location of the terminal devices 552 (e.g. theserver computer 216, etc.), whether in the premises of the networkoperator or in the customer's premises. In other words, the NFV-basednetwork 510 may be managing the VNFs 550 and the VNF instances 551providing the services, as well as the terminal devices 552 (e.g. theserver computer 216, etc.) being co-located within the same computingdevice (e.g. the hardware unit 523, etc.), whether in the premises ofthe network operator or in the customer's premises or in a commercialcloud or any other place.

A service provided by the communication network may be implemented usingone or more VNFs. For example, the service may be a group, or a chain ofinterconnected VNFs. The VNFs making the group, or the service, may beinstalled and executed by a single processor, by several processors onthe same rack, within several racks in the same data-center, or byprocessors distributed within two or more data-centers. In some cases,chain optimization may be employed by optimizing the deployment of aservice in a communication network using network functionvirtualization, and to optimizing the deployment of a group, or a chain,of virtual network functions in the NFV-based network 510. Therefore,the term “chain optimization” refers to the planning and/or managing ofthe deployment of VNFs making a chain, or a group, of VNFs providing aparticular service.

For example, FIG. 5 shows a first service 553, including the VNFs 550and their respective VNF instances 554, 555, 556, and 557, and a thickline. In this example, the group or chain of the VNFs 550 making firstservice 553 are connected as a chain of VNFs 550. However, the VNFs 550making a service may be connected in any conceivable form such as astar, tree-root, tree-branch, mesh, etc., including combinationsthereof. It is noted that the VNFs 550 may be executed by two or moreVNF instances 551, such as VNF 554.

The deployment of the group or chain of the VNFs 550 making the firstservice 553 is therefore limited by constraints such as the capacity ofthe communication link 549 bandwidth and/or latency (delay).

A VNF may have a list of requirements, or specifications, such asprocessing power, cash memory capacity, regular memory capacity (e.g.RAM, dynamic, or volatile memory, etc.), non-volatile memory (e.g. suchas flash memory, etc.) capacity, storage capacity, power requirements,cooling requirements, etc. A particular VNF instance 551 providing aparticular function (e.g. to a particular customer, entity, etc.) mayhave further requirements, or modified requirements, for example,associated with a particular quality of service (QoS) or service levelagreement (SLA). Such requirements may include maximum latency or delay,average latency and maximum variance (latency jitter), maximal allowedpacket loss, etc. Other requirements may include service availability,redundancy, backup, provisions for roll-back and/or recovery,fault-tolerance, and/or fail-safe operation, etc.

A service made of a chain or a group of VNFs 550 and their VNF instances551 may have a similar list of requirements, or specifications, coveringthe service as a whole. Therefore, such requirements, or specifications,may imply, affect, or include, requirements, or specifications,regarding communication links between the VNFs 550 and/or the VNFinstances 551. Such requirements, or specifications, may includebandwidth, latency, bit-error rate, and/or packet loss, etc. Suchcommunication requirements or specifications may further imposedeployment limitations, or constraints, requiring particular VNFs 550and/or VNF instances 551 to reside in the same data-center, or withinthe same rack, or even in the same computing device, for example,sharing memory or being executed by the same processor. Securitymeasures may add further requirements, or specifications, such asco-location of some of the VNFs 550 and/or the VNF instances 551.

In the context of FIG. 5, the NFV-based network 510 has a hierarchicalstructure. There may be at least four aspects of the hierarchicalstructure of the NFV-based network 510. The networking or traffic aspectrefers to the arrangement of the transmission lines between the hardwareunits 523. The processing aspect refers to the arrangement of thehardware units 523. The software aspect refers to the arrangement of theVNFs 550. The operational aspect refers to the arrangement of the VNFinstances 551.

One aspect of the optimization process in an NFV-based network is thatit may be based on real-time needs, rather than long-term, statisticallyanticipated, needs. One potential limitation on network reconfigurationin NFV-based networks is that network configuration does not result in adeterioration beyond acceptable level of any of the current services.The NFV deployment module (e.g. module 433 of FIG. 4, etc.) may functionto enable and manage migration of services between the hardware units523, the VNFs 550, and the VNF instances 551 in real-time, withoutaffecting or with a minimal effect on the availability of a service, andwhile securing service and session continuity.

In the context of the current description, the term “continuous” meansthat the deployment optimization module and/or a chain optimizationmodule (e.g. the chain optimization module 434 of FIG. 4, etc.) performsthe relevant optimization task or process in run-time, or real-time, oronline, or on-the-fly, or repetitively and without adversely affectingthe network's functionality and its services.

Unlike a legacy network, the NFV-based network may have two topologies:the topology of the hardware devices, and the topology of the VNFs (thedistribution of VNFs among the hardware devices). The topology of thehardware network is relatively stable, while the VNF topology can beoptimized in real-time. Another benefit of the NFV-based network is thatmodifying the software topology (e.g. the distribution of VNFs among thehardware devices) is much less costly than any modification of thehardware topology. However, any modification of the network has itscost, including the cost of making such modification possible. Addedcost may result from the need to process the modification of thetopology and the re-distribution of VNF instances and to maintain excessresources for such purpose.

Thus, in some cases, it may be desired to localize the NFV-O 512, andparticularly the deployment optimization processes associated with thedeployment optimization module and the chain optimization module toreduce the cost, and simultaneously to secure the possibility to expandthe scope of the network managed by these processes, if needed.

FIG. 6 illustrates simplified diagrams 600 of implementing at least onevirtual service testing element in a NFV-based communication network, inaccordance with one embodiment. As an option, the diagrams 600 may beviewed in the context of the details of the previous Figures. Of course,however, the diagrams 600 may be viewed in the context of any desiredenvironment. Further, the aforementioned definitions may equally applyto the description below.

As shown, a virtual service testing element 602 may be instantiatedand/or implemented to test various aspects of a network/system. Forexample, as shown in example A, the virtual service testing element 602may be implemented to test one or more virtual services 604, which mayrepresent a portion of a network or all virtual services in anetwork/system.

In operation, a known test case communication may be sent from thevirtual service testing element 602 as an input to an ingress point 606of at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network. Further, aresult of the input is received as an output at an egress point 608 ofthe portion of the NFV-based communication network. The result isanalyzed to determine whether the portion of the NFV-based communicationnetwork is performing as expected.

As shown in example B, the virtual service testing element 602 mayinclude more than one element that may be implemented to test one ormore virtual services 604, which may represent a portion of a network orall virtual services in a network/system. In this case, the firstvirtual service testing element 602 may send the known test casecommunication as an input to the ingress point 606 and the result of theinput may be received as an output at the egress point 608 by the secondvirtual service testing element 602, which may then be analyzed.

Still yet, as shown in example C, the virtual service testing element602 may test a portion of a virtual service and/or specific VNFs. Ofcourse, the examples shown in FIG. 6 are not limiting as many other testscenarios may be implemented.

FIG. 7 illustrates a network architecture 700, in accordance with onepossible embodiment. As shown, at least one network 702 is provided. Inthe context of the present network architecture 700, the network 702 maytake any form including, but not limited to a telecommunicationsnetwork, a local area network (LAN), a wireless network, a wide areanetwork (WAN) such as the Internet, peer-to-peer network, cable network,etc. While only one network is shown, it should be understood that twoor more similar or different networks 702 may be provided.

Coupled to the network 702 is a plurality of devices. For example, aserver computer 704 and an end user computer 706 may be coupled to thenetwork 702 for communication purposes. Such end user computer 706 mayinclude a desktop computer, lap-top computer, and/or any other type oflogic. Still yet, various other devices may be coupled to the network702 including a personal digital assistant (PDA) device 708, a mobilephone device 710, a television 712, etc.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary system 800, in accordance with oneembodiment. As an option, the system 800 may be implemented in thecontext of any of the devices of the network architecture 700 of FIG. 7.Of course, the system 800 may be implemented in any desired environment.

As shown, a system 800 is provided including at least one centralprocessor 801 which is connected to a communication bus 802. The system800 also includes main memory 804 [e.g. random access memory (RAM),etc.]. The system 800 also includes a graphics processor 806 and adisplay 808.

The system 800 may also include a secondary storage 810. The secondarystorage 810 includes, for example, a hard disk drive and/or a removablestorage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive,a compact disk drive, etc. The removable storage drive reads from and/orwrites to a removable storage unit in a well-known manner.

Computer programs, or computer control logic algorithms, may be storedin the main memory 804, the secondary storage 810, and/or any othermemory, for that matter. Such computer programs, when executed, enablethe system 800 to perform various functions (as set forth above, forexample). Memory 804, storage 810 and/or any other storage are possibleexamples of tangible computer-readable media.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred embodiment shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: instantiating at least onevirtual service testing element, the at least one virtual servicetesting element being at least one virtual service or at least onevirtual network function (VNF), and the at least one virtual servicetesting element being operable for testing at least a portion of aNetwork Function Virtualization based (NFV-based) communication networkincluding a plurality of virtual services; and identifying at least onetime to implement the at least one virtual service testing element; atthe identified time, implementing the at least one virtual servicetesting element to test the at least a portion of the NFV-basedcommunication network by: sending a known test case communication fromthe at least one virtual service testing element as an input to aningress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-based communicationnetwork, receiving a result of the input as an output at an egress pointof the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network, andanalyzing the result to determine whether at least a portion of theNFV-based communication network is performing as expected; wherein thevirtual service testing element being the at least one virtual serviceor the at least one virtual network function (VNF) enables the virtualservice testing element to be dynamically moved across the NFV-basedcommunication network, including: identifying at least one first pointin the NFV-based communication network to functionally locate the atleast one virtual service testing element, functionally locating the atleast one virtual service testing element at the at least one firstpoint of the NFV-based communication network, identifying at least onesecond point in the NFV-based communication network to functionallylocate the at least one virtual service testing element, andfunctionally moving the at least one virtual service testing elementfrom the at least one first point of the NFV-based communication networkto the at least one second point of the NFV-based communication network.2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one time toimplement the at least one virtual service testing element includesutilizing a test plan to identify the at least one time to implement theat least one virtual service testing element.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein identifying the at least one time to implement the at least onevirtual service testing element includes receiving a command toimplement the at least one virtual service testing element.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the command is received from at least onevirtual service.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the command is sentbased on at least one event in the NFV-based communication network. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one event in the NFV-basedcommunication network includes an event identified as a potentialfailure event.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least onevirtual service testing element tests a portion of the NFV-basedcommunication network.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at leastone virtual service testing element tests all services in the NFV-basedcommunication network.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein, if analyzingthe result indicates that the at least a portion of the NFV-basedcommunication network is not performing as expected, further comprisingidentifying another portion of the NFV-based communication network totest.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein, if analyzing the resultindicates that the at least a portion of the NFV-based communicationnetwork is not performing as expected, further comprising identifyingone or more services associated with the NFV-based communication networkin which to perform testing.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising generating a schedule for implementing the at least onevirtual service testing element.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein theschedule identifies the at least one time to implement the at least onevirtual service testing element.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising instantiating the at least one virtual service testingelement in an existing operational NFV-based communication network. 14.The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual service testing element isthe at least one virtual service.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein thevirtual service testing element is the at least one VNF.
 16. A computerprogram product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium,comprising: computer code for instantiating at least one virtual servicetesting element, the at least one virtual service testing element beingat least one virtual service or at least one virtual network function(VNF), and the at least one virtual service testing element beingoperable for testing at least a portion of a Network FunctionVirtualization based (NFV-based) communication network including aplurality of virtual services; and computer code for identifying atleast one time to implement the at least one virtual service testingelement; computer code for implementing, at the identified time, the atleast one virtual service testing element to test the at least a portionof the NFV-based communication network by: sending a known test casecommunication from the at least one virtual service testing element asan input to an ingress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-basedcommunication network, receiving a result of the input as an output atan egress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-based communicationnetwork, and analyzing the result to determine whether at least aportion of the NFV-based communication network is performing asexpected; wherein the virtual service testing element being the at leastone virtual service or the at least one virtual network function (VNF)enables the virtual service testing element to be dynamically movedacross the NFV-based communication network, including: identifying atleast one first point in the NFV-based communication network tofunctionally locate the at least one virtual service testing element,functionally locating the at least one virtual service testing elementat the at least one first point of the NFV-based communication network,identifying at least one second point in the NFV-based communicationnetwork to functionally locate the at least one virtual service testingelement, and functionally moving the at least one virtual servicetesting element from the at least one first point of the NFV-basedcommunication network to the at least one second point of the NFV-basedcommunication network.
 17. A system comprising: a memory system; and oneor more processing cores coupled to the memory system and that are eachconfigured to: instantiate at least one virtual service testing element,the at least one virtual service testing element being at least onevirtual service or at least one virtual network function (VNF), and theat least one virtual service testing element being operable for testingat least a portion of a Network Function Virtualization based(NFV-based) communication network including a plurality of virtualservices; and identify at least one time to implement the at least onevirtual service testing element; at the identified time, implement theat least one virtual service testing element to test the at least aportion of the NFV-based communication network by: sending a known testcase communication from the at least one virtual service testing elementas an input to an ingress point of the at least a portion of theNFV-based communication network, receiving a result of the input as anoutput at an egress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-basedcommunication network, and analyzing the result to determine whether atleast a portion of the NFV-based communication network is performing asexpected; wherein the virtual service testing element being the at leastone virtual service or the at least one virtual network function (VNF)enables the virtual service testing element to be dynamically movedacross the NFV-based communication network, including: identifying atleast one first point in the NFV-based communication network tofunctionally locate the at least one virtual service testing element,functionally locating the at least one virtual service testing elementat the at least one first point of the NFV-based communication network,identifying at least one second point in the NFV-based communicationnetwork to functionally locate the at least one virtual service testingelement, and functionally moving the at least one virtual servicetesting element from the at least one first point of the NFV-basedcommunication network to the at least one second point of the NFV-basedcommunication network.